Overtraining

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Overtraining. Many of us are probably guilty of it at some time during our workout regime. In an effort, to get bigger, stronger or leaner we put in a big effort training everyday with the idea that more is better. This mentality is probably most identified with overachievers and perfectionists.

I'm sure if you're reading this, you're probably one of them as you want to find out everything you can about training and contest preparation so you can better yourself at the gym or on stage.

To be successful in anything, in particular in the sport of bodybuilding where high disciplined is needed, you need to have an element of 'obsession' in your personality otherwise you wouldn't achieve your goal. The reasons why some athletes don't achieve as much definition as they should for a show is not applying enough effort ie they give in to cravings or don't work hard enough training or doing cardio. Which isn't really a problem for our overachievers!

In this update we'll look at the issue of overtraining. Specifically training during pre contest phase.But its identifying when your obsession (ie perhaps doing too much cardio, dieting too hard) becomes detrimental to your progress that is the key to contest success. Identifying this could make the difference between having a depleted or a great body at the gym or on stage. Read on to learn some of the symptoms of overtraining.

The Guide to Overdoing It When you're starting out on your pre contest journey, perhaps at 12 weeks out, you can probably get away with going overboard on your cardio and weights. You still have plenty of fat stores that the body can tap in to use for energy required to fuel your 1hr cardio sessions and heavy weight training sessions. However problems tend to arise as lower levels of body fat are reached - usually around 4 weeks out from contest if you've been a super dedicated athlete which our overachievers are.

 

With four weeks to go, overachievers are usually looking pretty sharp but instead of mainting their diets and decrease their intensity of their cardio regime, they usually start panicing.They feel time is running out as contest day gets closer. They start to eat less, and exercise more. They begin to over-diet and over-train. At first, their legs start to feel heavy - an early sign of energy levels getting low. As the days passed and the show draw nearer, they try harder and harder to get that last little bit of definition. They cut calories even more, and keep increasing the amount of cardio they do. They experience a drastic strength decrease in the gym and energy levels hit an all time low.

Eating Muscle
At this point, athletes have already spent a good deal of time in a mode where their bodies are not getting enough food to support energy demands. Once fat stores start to get a little low, the body goes into 'conservation' mode. The body senses that you're going into 'starvation so it'll prepare for the famine.

Your body will take measures to reduce energy needs and cling on to remaining fat stores. A reduction of energy needs is achieved by slowing the metabolism down. The body goes into a mode where it burns calories at a slower rate in order to get more out of what energy sources it is getting.

In addition to the slowing of metabolism, the body may also start to turn on itself for energy. Once a body begins to fight to hold onto fat stores from sensing starvation, it becomes more likely that muscle tissue will be broken down to get the energy needed, and this is definitely not what athletes want to have happen, especially at contest time. On contest day they usually end up having no difference in muscle definition or worse - look more depleted than they did at 4 weeks out. Sound familiar?

Rest & Overtraining Resting is one of the crucial parts of your contest preparation if you want to look great on the day. Resting can mean cutting back on your time doing cardio or change the type of cardio you do. Listen to your body and take a complete rest day if you're feeling exhausted. You won't get fat!!

Overachievers are thinking "Rest? what's that? I've got too much cardio to do. I've got to lose alot more fat before I can rest!". There are many bodybuilders who do not realize the important role rest plays in obtaining maximum performance and results from the hours spent in the gym.

We admire the overachievers' quest for excellence but they need to know that applying too much effort is basically doing too much exercise for the amount of energy sources (food) they take in. Consequently, things become more difficult for them when they cross the line and enter the over-dieting/over-training stage of contest prep. They will have less energy, feel exhausted much of the time, and their bodies will work against their efforts to try to achieve leaner conditioning.

 

Conclusion Training for a contest shouldn't be a miserable experience. Sure, its hard but it doesn't have to be too draining on your mind and body. If you can identify with these characteristics then you're overtraining: * If you find your legs start to feel heavy, that your energy becomes low for more than just a short duration here and there * that you have insatiable hunger (even still starving right after a meal!), * that your bowel movements become less frequent (slowed metabolism), * that you experience a noticeable decrease in strength watch out! These are signs of over-dieting and over-training.

 

It's only human nature for us to be better, the more we try to be better, the more we want to add more and more stimulus in the hopes that they will continue to improve. Often the end result may not be what we imagined ourselves to be despite all the effort we put in.

If you're an overachiever and/or perhaps identify with the above overtraining scenario, you have to learn to relax and step back and look at yourself. Or get someone to look at you for you. And listen to the advice they give!

The key to succesful contest preparation without overtraining is to balance your energy resources and expenditures more. Maintain only a slight caloric deficit. Avoid these pitfalls, and preparation will be much easier and more productive. Don't let the overachiever in you lead you astray!